Guard-rail.



J. Y. MOOLINTOOK.

GUARD RAIL.

APPLICATION rum AUG, 15 1910.

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P tented Dec. 19, 1911.

It is so stron UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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Specification atw Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

Application filed August lfi, 1910. Serial No. 577,336.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, J. Y. MoQm N'rocK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, inthe county of Monroe and State of New York, have "invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guard- Rails, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to guard consists in certain parts'and combinations of arts all of which will be hereinafter de-j'l scr1bed,'the novel features being pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side iew of a guard rail constructed in-accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the intermediate-rail member shown in Fig. -1 with port-ions of two-proximate rail members and their sup ports; Fig. 3 is a bottom view of an intermediate rail member; Fig. 4 is an end view of the guard rail; Fig. 5 is a section on line a- -a Fig. '2; Fig. 6 is a section on line bb Fig. 2; and Fig. 7 is a detail view of one end of the guard rail.

The. article forming the subject matter of this invention is placed along one or both sides of bridges, highways or other places where it is desired to prevent ersons. or vehicles leaving the proper pat or road. that it will not give way under impact or there is greater danger to the occupants of vehicles in passing ofl' bridgesor banks than there is in the destruction of.;the-vehicles. Furthermore, the device, it struck at any angle by a vehicle, will tend to guide or deflect the latter without causing the destruction thereof. Its construotion is such that it may be manufactured and installed at a minimum cost, and provision has been made to permit it to adapt itselfsto the settling of the earth in which it may'besupported.

The g ard rail, may be of any desired. length. In the illustrated embodiment three rail members 1, 2 and B are employed, supported on p'o'sts or u ri hts 4 which are preferably of uniform t io ess and are formed of concrete reinforced if desired. The rail members arealso preferably'formed of concrete and are supported by the uprights at such a distance above the supporting surface 5 that they will be struck by the wheels, of the vehicles;

When theposts or uprights are supported in earth the latter settles and it is therefore desirable to support each rail member at two points only and independently -of the others, whereby with the sinking or 'dropping of a post, or upright the rail member or members partially su ported thereby may also drop, thus giving exibility to the guard rail. Of course, the connection between the posts or uprights and the rail members is such that it permits thistlexing, while at the same-time it insures the parts against separation due to impact.

My improved guard rail is made preferably of two kinds of rails or sections and upright, posts, which are substantially uniform in length, cross section and general appeara-nce. the rail, the one ,is the intermediate rail illustrated in plan view-in Fig. 3, and illustrated in vertical section in Fig. 2. In this raila half ocket 7 is formed at each end which will 101d substantially one -half of the upper end of the post onwhich' the guard rail is to bepositioned, and when 'twopf these guard rails are laced in direct abutment, as illustrated in ig. 2, a pocket is'formed between them that will inclose all of the head of the post I prefer to make these pockets uniform so that half of the complete ocket is formed on the end of each interme" iate s'eption andlon one end of theend section, although itis obvious that any other fractional division will answer the purpose, so that when the" two rails are placed end to end in abutment the complete pocket is formed, andeach o fthe rails contains enough'of thepocket to'iorm a positive engagementv-with the lie ad of the post.

'In Figs. 1 and ,7 I have il .form of rail section. I. inst rated in Fig. '17,; this rail 'sectiondciim his complete ptiekeaa't one end. ,That'slswa. pocket that IS blosed on five-side's andfbpenonly at the raill is' but two j'seetioiis lo we of these qstrated the end bdttom. This" pocket; a e ,enough to end rails would be supported on three posts, the middle post supporting both rails as they come into abutment, and as shown at either side of Fig. 2, while the outside posts would support the rail as shown in Fig. 7. Where more than two sections are placed in the rail, the end sections would be the same asthat described while the intermediate sections would be similar to those shown in Fig. 3, in which case each of the intermediate posts would support two of the consecutive sections placed end to end in abutment. The post 4 is preferably square or rectangular in cross section, although it is obvious that any other form of post would answer the purpose equally as well. In this instance each rail member is of inverted U-shape in cross section with transverse or cross pieces 6 of concrete connecting the sides thereof atintervals to strengthen the same, two of said cross pieces being located near the ends of each rail member to form down wardly opening pockets 7, each of a width equal to the width of a post so as to receive the upper end of one of said posts. Some of these pockets open laterally in the direction of the length of the guard rails so that the proximate ends of proximate rail members may fit on a single post or upright, While other of the pockets receive a single post and are closed as at 8 to form the ends of the guard rail.

The rail members 1, 2 and 3 may be stren thened in any suitable 'manner'as by four longitudinal metallic rods 9 extending throughout the length of each rail member.

ansverse strength may be obtained by U-shaped metallic members 10 located at the transverse or cross pieces, and overlapping the rods 9.

As before pointed out, the guard rail is installed at the side of a highway or bridge, the posts resting on or being embedded in a suitable support. The rail members rest loosely on the upper ends of the uprights and each is held .11 place by its own weight, those I have constructed each weighing about 350" pounds. lVith this arrangement itis impossible for the rail members to be displaced accidentally from the support. They are of such strength that they can sustain an impact of very great force and the pockets at. their ends in which the upper ends of the posts fit prevent horizontal movement in any direction. The vertical movement can be effected only by a force acting upwardly to overcome the weight of the rail member, and as this will not occur accidentally it is apparent that the accidental displacement of the rail members cannot take place. There is no liability of the guard rail being destroyed by the settling of the earth as the rail members are independent of each other and may thus lower with the lowering of either post supporting the same. The'rail members have their side edges lying in vertiml planes beyond the vertical outer faces of the posts or uprights, so that if the rail members are struck at an angle by a vehicle moving with force the wheels will be deflected and will not engage the posts or uprights.

What I claim is:

1. A concrete guard rail section having a pocket formed on each end, said pockets being closed on four sides and open on two sides, each of said pockets being so formed that when .two of said guard rail sections are placed end to end in abutment said pockets will form between them a pocket closed on fire sides and open on one side.

2. A concrete guard rail section having a pocket formed on one end, thereof, said pocket being open on two sides and closed on four sides, said pocket being so formed that when two of said guard rail sections each having a similar pocket on the end thereof, are placed end to end in abutment with said said pockets will form between ,them a pocket closed on five sides and open on one side.

3. A concrete guard rail section having a pocket on each end, each of said pockets being closed on four sides and open on two sides, one of said open sides being on each end of the rail section and the other open side being adjacent thereto,- reinforcin members extending through said guard rail section between said pockets, and a reinforcing member extending around three sides of each of said pockets and transversely oi the guard rail section.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J. Y. MCCLINTOCK. Witnesses LENA M. AsH,

Paras TETTELBAGH.

pockets adjacent to each other, 

